This year it feels like a subdued 4th – ask anyone on the streets of Brooklyn how they feel about this holiday and you will get decidedly mixed reviews. As we reflect on the 4th of July, we know it’s about much more than BBQs and fireworks: we recognize that today, citizens of every stripe have collected a catalog of grievances against those in power- especially those who have long past become corrupted and stopped doing our bidding. If we are to have hope, it will be a unity that overcomes.

As we look at the words of the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, we reflect on the modern implications of the historic document declaring the thirteen American colonies’ independence from British rule and the King. Who are the kings today? The full text is quite lengthy, but here is an excerpt from the preamble, which outlines the fundamental principles:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

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